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After You'd Gone

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After You'd Gone

By: Maggie O'Farrell
Narrated by: Lesley Mackie
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About this listen

A distraught young woman boards a train at King's Cross to return to her family in Scotland. Six hours later, she catches sight of something so terrible in a mirror at Waverley Station that she gets on the next train back to London, where a traffic accident leaves her in a coma. After You'd Gone follows Alice's mental journey into how she came to be this way, as she twists together threads of memory in a plot that grips from the outset.

It is a love story which is also a story of absence - we discover that Alice's lover, John, has been dead for a year by the time the book starts - and of parental legacies: how actions and choices can reverberate in following generations. Slowly, we are drawn closer to a dark secret at the family's heart, as Alice begins to wonder whether she will ever be whole again, or even survive.

©2000 Maggie O'Farrell (P)2012 Headline Digital Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking

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All stars
Most relevant  
The action pivots round a particular day when Alice Reikes inadvertently witnesses something shocking on Waverley Station. The straw that broke the camel's back.

The writing in this is effortlessly beautiful and the plot structure is quite unusual but this in large oart is why it is so moving.

Themes that are explored include, inherited trauma, grief, parenting, relationships, religion and the secrets we keep.

In a lesser writer's hands this could have been such a cumbersome book but in in O'Farrell's hands it is anything but.

One of the most moving books I have read in sometime.

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One of those rare books that leave you wanting more...more....more! Thank you to the author!

Insightful and talented writing.

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Would you consider the audio edition of After You'd Gone to be better than the print version?

Having not read the book and only listened to the audio I cannot say.

What other book might you compare After You'd Gone to, and why?

I can't think of any quite as good.

Have you listened to any of Lesley Mackie’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No I have not listened to any other of Lesley Mackie's performances but going by this one I would like to.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed and cried, it is a highly emotional book that is beautifully excecuted.

Any additional comments?

I loved the main character Alice, Lesley Mackie's wonderful narration brought her to life. This book is a gripping family saga and I was sorry when it came to an end.

Stunning!

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Where does After You'd Gone rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Near the middle

What did you like best about this story?

gripping first three quarters

What three words best describe Lesley Mackie’s voice?

little variation, over insistent

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Alice knitting a pullover flor her dead boyfriend

Any additional comments?

the main protaganists, Alice and John, were unappealing: Alice, too strident and spoilt, John, too much of a doormat. Cleverly structured but an unconvincing finale

good story, annoyng characters,unvarying tone

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Loved the writing style and the multiple voices and timelines. Only criticism is that it ended to abruptly for me. There were so many strings still being straightened out but I feel like I didn’t get enough resolution for it to end there. Huge MOF fan and have read so many of her books, although I liked this it is by no means my favourite.

Loved it……. But

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This is how storytelling should be, but for the most part isnt, but you carry on taking chances with books and get disapojnted time and time again and just when you are about to give up , when there are no more genres left to find a good story, something wonderful like this comes along.

I cried, a lot, it was intense the last couple of hours, but worth it.

only a fool would pass up this book, it has no genre, sometimes real life hits harder.

Absolutely Beautiful and Tragic

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Struggled to engage with this. I just lost interest because the characters lives flashed back and forth just a bit too much. Just lost any drama in the end.

Where was I?

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Thoroughly engrossed in yet another gem from Maggie O'Farrell. Storytelling at its very best. A.x

WOW

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I’ve come to live Maggie’s books. Her stories are full of human emotion, tragedy, details, and the randomness of life. A satisfying ending

Beautiful story

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Would you listen to After You'd Gone again? Why?

Probably not, I've never read/listened to the same book twice. Would rather read or listen to something new

What other book might you compare After You'd Gone to, and why?

Don't know

What does Lesley Mackie bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Nothing

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Can't think

Any additional comments?

None

Great listen as usual

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